MY WORLD HISTORY - PAGE 1

Select Articles Submitted By: Captain Joe Goeller         Ellen Hill       Luis Salazar       Joe Hrezo      Captain Johnny Wiseman       Dick Kalman       Nancy Wood Samel Captain Neal Ensign       Jeannie Wager-Wiseman

"LEST WE FOGET" Captain Joe Goeller

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With your very kind indulgence, I'd like to take you back a few years to a Sunday, June 19, 1960 in Danville, California. I had just arrived home in the late afternoon after flying a DC-3 to Borrego springs from Oakland with a group of prospective real estate buyers. On my pillow was a note from Billie joiner, wife of Japan airlines chief pilot, asking me to contact George Merrill at world airways. I remembered meeting George at a gathering at bill Benge's home, but had no knowledge of world other than having heard the name somewhere. I proceeded to the Oakland airport the next morning and met with George. He wanted to hire me as the chief pilot for world who had just been awarded the Logair contract to begin operation some 10 days later with a fleet of DC-4's flown by crews, neither of which world had at the time. I recall the long line of applicants for the 24 flying jobs which were created by the contract award. George asked me if I was interested in the chief pilot's position and I replied that I was currently employed by admiral air service as chief. After much discussion, I agreed to take the job but would have to give proper notice to admiral. He said that was impossible since, if I wanted the job, I would have to start immediately hiring pilots who were then lined up outside the old terminal at oak. Since I was interested in getting back into four-engined equipment, I accepted, and although it's another long story, I managed to function as chief pilot for two airlines for the next two weeks. May god bless Jim Sorthun of admiral air for his understanding and blessing. The next ten days were hectic involved with the interviewing, hiring, check riding, and associated tasks with the transition of a one DC-6 operation to an airline which maintained a daily scheduled operation coast to coast, in each direction… sleeping on top of my deck in hanger 28 was a must as the drive to Danville would have consumed too much time. Early one morning, and nearing the completion of the FAA required check rides for employment acceptance, dick Mainentti was flying his final ILS approach when I actually fell asleep between the old Hayward fan marker and the subsequent landing. Dick awakened me just short of the inner marker at which time I advised him " to park it" I was going to go to bed. Logair got off the ground on schedule and functioned successfully for the next period of years. I went on to act as chief pilot, chief flight engineer and chief stewardess until January of 1961 when the continued wearing of three hats became impossibility. This would not be complete without the mention of a few dedicated people whose total dedication in 1960 resulted in world being the carrier it is today, in y2k. William s. Boyd - executive vice president, Douglas p. Larsen - vice president of operations, George Merrill - vice president of flight operations, jean hale - secretary to all three above plus yours. Also captain "chuck" martin, the longest holder of the # 1 seniority position of any known airline and captain "Johnny" Wiseman, part of the small group we hired from slick airways. Each and every former resort airline pilot who brought with them all the little "shortcuts" which made the "Logair" operation a success. captain merle sheets -- Transocean airlines, f/o Ron Winiker -- Transocean, Captain Andy Holm -Transocean,Captain Bill Benge -- Transocean , Dave Gekler -- WOA's first crew scheduler. Volumes should be dedicated to those who joined world after January, 1961.. too many to mention here but nevertheless to be remembered for their contribution.. oh yes ! There's one other renowned contributor who. for years to come, will be uppermost in our memory. Edward Joseph Daly, WOA PFE, Bill Reid, missing in aircraft.

World & the JFK blizzard of '78-submitted by captain Joe Goeller
WOA FLT. 20241 KJFK-PHTC a/c N748WA
Crew: Goeller, Hitch & Higgins, Pidlaoan, Tomlinson, Strelczyk, Boyle, Velte, Reinert, Rzadkowlski, Gem, Margues, Wheeler, Elias, James and Helen Chavez as Check F/A.. Background : WOA 748 arrived at Kennedy well in time to make the scheduled departure for Hilo. then the infamous N.Y.. blizzard of 1978 brought all traffic, land, sea & air to a halt. the snow removal process at JFK was put into motion, personally directed by frank Coffey, Mgr.. of JFK airport. Frank has been a personal friend of my family for many years and just recently passed away in Palm Springs - a great loss to the aviation community. Since our flight was scheduled for a layover prior to leaving for Hilo, we were assigned a parking area which just happened to be in the center of the snow removal deposit area and in no time at all of N748 was completely surrounded by tons of snow which had been removed from the runways and taxi ways. It is difficult to either remember or estimate the height of the snow, but only the tail was visible. Our WOA then the flight departure took on an interesting aspect. Notwithstanding the difficulties of getting N748 to the gate, we began the boarding process and, as has been my custom through the years, positioned myself at door L1 to greet the passengers some were disgruntled at the delay, others happy to see the aircraft after the blizzard, and one, who on entering the doorway looked at me and said "hi captain, I am your friendly hijacker." Well, gently but firmly grabbing her by the arm, she made a 180 degree turn and found herself in the Jet way with yours truly calling for security. She was turned over to security and was cleared after a complete search. It was my decision to allow her to travel with a view towards our inordinate delay and, with perhaps consideration for the few ounces of libation which she had consumed to ease the totality of this irregular delay. Passengers loaded, push back from the gate & wouldn't you know it -- we couldn't get the d____ engines started. Passengers unloaded with people loaders and a second attempt at departure was successful .we departed for Hilo 31:05 late…halfway to the west coast, it was reported that we had an irate passenger annoying the other PAX.. I advised the PAX that I would interrupt the flight over Oakland, land, and turn him over to the FBI this moment could not have been reported without the very helpful cooperation of Walt Okino, World airways dispatch.

SPECIAL MOMENTS - INITIAL B-707 FLIGHT KSUU/RJTY
On August 23, 1963 World A/C N373WA departed Travis in Fairfield, CA. non-stop to Yokota AB in Japan with Hal Pollacek sharing the pilot duties with me on the flight. Mr. George Sheridan of the F.A.A. was in the jumpseat observing our Initial route check in a jetliner. After a seemingly long ground roll [as was the case in the early days], we began airborne and the 11+39 hour flight to Tokyo was normal. About 100 miles Northeast of Tokyo, Air Traffic Control cleared the flight to descend to a lower altitude. That’s when the normalcy of the flight was interrupted. World had arranged for a tremendous ground training program at the Boeing factory in Seattle, a thorough simulator program at United in Denver, and a fabulous flight training program in the aircraft with Boeing flight instructor personnel .. We did all the emergencies including the Emergency Descent maneuver, but we had never been exposed to a normal descent profile. ( and so back to the story). When Japan Air Traffic Control cleared our flight to a lower altitude, I realized that I had never made a normal descent from altitude -- the only way I had ever descended was to don the oxygen mask, close the thrust levers, deploy the speedbrakes and "DIVE" to 14,000 feet. I said to myself "Self - you need a little help". I turned to George, the FAA man In the jumpseat and declared, "George, I have never made a normal descent from altitude. His professional advice was " Joe, just pull back the thrust levers and nose it over a bit but watch your airspeed". He then personally added, "After we get to the Hotel, let’s cleanup a bit and meet at the Bar to discuss this business of descending a Jet from altitude NORMALLY !!!. Needless to say our meeting was productive and normal descents became SOP for another successful 21,000+ hours of continued WOA employment. Respectfully submitted by Capt. Joe Goeller

Boeing B747 Evacuation - By Captain Joe Goeller
On April 23, 1973, a World Airways crew successfully demonstrated to the FAA that 461 passengers and 13 crew members could be evacuated in 90 seconds from a 747 utilizing only 5 of the 11 exits. The crew consisted of Captain Joe Goeller, F/O Ron Winiker, F/E Jim Turner and a Flight Attendant crew with F/A Jeannie Wiseman, (then Wagers) as Senior. Jeannie was assisted in this demonstration by F/A’s Martha Mutch, Jan Bancroft, Judy Frisken, Jan Smith, Vickie Soulier, Lola Gillis, V. Surdez, H Banekin and Nora Marshall who was assigned two doors in the rear of the aircraft. L. Edvenson and S. Friburg were designated as standby F/A’s. The crew flew to the Boeing factory at Paine Field in Everett, WA. in Mr. Daly’s Convair with Captain Ed Heering in command. Several briefings ensued the next morning, with a separate briefing for the Flight Attendants by Senior Jeannie Wagers ( understand that was quite a briefing). On the way to the airport, I stopped at the Front Desk and ordered a case of Champagne for the crew since our confidence level was high and I wanted to treat the crew to something extra after the demonstration.
The drill was satisfactory with only a few minor abrasions suffered by "our passengers". On return to the Motel a celebration dinner was enjoyed by all who participated, including Doug Larsen, Dr. Reich, officials from Boeing, Northwest and Pan American as well as the FAA folks. The officialdom sat at one long table with the remainder of the group at smaller tables. About midway through the evening, I remembered I had ordered a case of champagne for the crew and began pouring the ‘bubbly’ to my crew who were scattered around the room. On passing the ‘head shed’ table, Mr. Daly called to me and inquired "What am I, a ------- orphan" at which time I replied, " Oh no! Mr. Daly you can have some too.". I would be remiss if I did not mention the one factor that guaranteed our success. On the signal to "EVACUATE", Ron Winiker proceeded from the cockpit, went down the spiral staircase and made it back to L3, through the many evacuating passengers to the overwing exit assisting Jan Smith. This effort had to be the ultimate in dexterity and deserved all of our gratitude. A quotation from the April 30, 1973 Ed Heering bulletin - " From Boeing, FAA and Pan American representatives there was the highest praise for the proficiency, efficiency and good judgement used by our crew during the test. According to the Boeing Company, of all demonstrations conducted by airlines, World
Airways was the only carrier to complete the test successfully the first time". Final note: the film of the evacuation has been repeatedly shown by Captain Joe in Palm Springs at the airport, the University Club at the College of the Desert and the Palm Springs Air Museum. "Another job well done by the great and professional World Airways Personnel.

B-747 Windshield Delamination-Submitted by Captain Joe Goeller (12/11/99-Part 1
On 01/08/74 WOA Flt. 16119, N747WA departed KOAK non-stop to ENBR. A cargo flight with oil drilling machinery aboard, the flight was uneventful until passing the Northern area of Greenland. At that time, a loud noise, similar to a shotgun discharge, was experienced in the cockpit. It was immediately determined that R1, the right windshield had delaminated. Trouble shooting confirmed the problem and WOADX was contacted. They arranged an immediate phone patch with the Boeing Company who suggested a landing at first opportunity. I elected to proceed to BIKF (Keflavik, Iceland) for repairs. Almost simultaneously with the right delamination, the L1-left windshield delaminated.and during descent the L2 side window also delaminated.. WX at Iceland was marginal with IFR conditions in light snow with a crosswind component reported. An ILS approach was planned and since the damaged left windshield allowed a bit more visibility than right one, I made the approach. After landing, we taxied to a hangar area to await the new windshields and maintenance personnel who would be arriving from London. On arrival of the expected equipment, since light snow was still falling, it was apparent that we had to place the 747 in a hangar area. During the interim waiting for the replacement windshields we took crew rest. Bill Keating, WOA VP sent us a message to expedite. Plans to tow the A/C into the hangar proved inadequate since the ramp equipment was not capable of towing the 747 uphill an iced ramp . The hangar was not large enough to accommodate the A/C but it would allow space for the a/c’s nose that would permit the repair. I advised all concerned, and with consideration for the deteriorating WX, I started the engines and taxied into the hangar. The maneuver was successful, the repair accomplished and the total delay amounted to 48 hrs. The flight continued to Norway without further incident. On return to KOAK, Bill wanted all particulars of the incident. His statement "YOU DID WHAT TO OUR 747, YOU TAXIED OUR AIRCRAFT INTO THE HANGAR " ?? I could only reply that it was the only way to affect the repair and subsequently get the load to Norway..At the height of the Vietnam war, WORLD AIR’S contribution to the U.S. B-707 Crew Meeting-Submitted by Captain Joe Goeller (12/12/99-Part 2 For this transmission I’ve chosen an experience which more than ever supports the adage of " The Jet really makes our World smaller" a few words, an almost impossibility. One very wonderful aspect of a project as this, is that it demands that one consult his own personal logbook, akin to a diary, and furnishes the very needed details. The Vietnam effort was involved with the transportation of our fighting boys and girls to Australia on an R&R project.
The following is a true account of 2 WOA 707’s meeting midway on the route from Saigon to Darwin, Australia. Yours truly was flying northbound with our Sydney Station Manager in the jump seat as an extra crew member. Captain Merle Sheets was southbound from Saigon to Darwin. The equatorial weather front, always prevalent over northern Borneo, was extremely active at this time and it was, as almost always, necessary to avoid the turbulent cumulus activity. I, after scanning the radar return , decide to deviate our flight plan route to the East. At the same time, then unknown to me, Capt. Sheets also decided to deviate to the East. Shortly thereafter we made radio contact on our WOA discreet frequency and exchanged our decision to avoid Northern Borneo. Merle reported that he was over TAWI-TAWI. I replied "Uncle Moo"’, as he was known to my daughter since she couldn’t pronounce Merle. "Why are you saying you are over TAWI-TAWI? [which is rather an obscure place in the southern Philippines]. His retort was that he was stationed on the island during WWII flying PBM’s. I said, and it was probably something unprintable, but added that "I was based on TAWI-TAWI during WWII flying P-38’s in support of the Australian invasion of the Balikpapan oil fields. Listening to this conversation over the speaker system in the cockpit was the aforementioned Station Manager for World, who immediately disclosed that he was on TAWI-TAWI at the same time as an observer for the Australian Forces.. [Circa 1944] Call it coincidence, fate or just a happening which supports the jet-age.As always your messages are read & re-read and put into print, 31 years of WOA experiences, would be a monumental but pleasant task, so I'll ask for your indulgence and list but a few of the great experiences which may be of interest.

1. 1960 expansion from 1 DC-6 to DC-4's, Connies & additional 6's for Western Electric

2. 747 successful Evacuation Demo at Boeing factory to allow Carriers to haul 461 Pax, twice before disallowed by FAA to NWA & PAA.

3. Meeting at 35,000 ft. over Sanga Sanga ( near Borneo & the date line) of three WOA employees. Urs truly flying southbound to Darwin, Merle Sheets flying North bound to Vietnam and our WOA station Mgr from Sydney in my jump seat, all of whom had served in the Sanga Sanga area during WW2. U can probably sense the intensity of the conversation at that time..

3. 747 Windshield delamination en route to Norway, resulting in a landing in Iceland and the subsequent TAXIING of a 747 into a hanger uphill, on ice and a few other interesting factors including Bill Keating's statement " YOU DID WHAT - TAXI ONE OF MY 747'S INTO A HANGER UPHILL, ON ICE, ETC. !!!!

Doppler Proving Flight

In the late 1960’s World made the decision to replace the Navigator with automated equipment and chose the Doppler system. The transition began in November 1968 and the following flight depicts the trip chosen to demonstrate our Doppler proficiency to the FAA.

On January 20, 1989, A/C N376WA departed KSUU for RJTY with a scheduled stop at PANC. A FAA Inspector was on board to observe World’s proficiency using the Doppler system as it’s primary navigational aid. The flight to Tokyo was uneventful and the Doppler system performed to its’ expectations.

The next day, in the same aircraft, the flight was scheduled for a non-stop from RJTY to KSUU. Shortly after top of climb, the # 1 Doppler system became inop and the flight continued using the #2 system. All normal procedures were employed to restore the # 1 system with no success. After another 1+1/2 hours the # 2 system dropped out [ failed]. The FAA inspector inquired as to my intentions and I replied that I had 3 alternatives. One was to return to Tokyo for repairs which would have resulted in serious reprimands for me as I had a Navigator on board. My second choice would be to continue the flight using the Navigator. The FAA replied that I could not use the Navigator as this type of failure might be expected at any time. My third choice was to continue the flight utilizing Loran as my primary aid to navigation. He, the FAA chap said that he guessed that I had no alternative but to navigate the trip with Loran, adding that a double failure of Doppler was a possibility, although remote, and so the flight had to make a decision to continue or divert. Other diversionary tactics were discussed with the FAA Inspector including a course change to intercept the airway from Shemya to Anchorage and then refueling to continue the flight via airways from PANC to KSUU.

So for 8+57 hrs, I took Loran fixes every 30 minutes and made a scheduled landfall at Arcata, CA. We offloaded the passengers at KSUU and ferried to KOAK where we proceeded to Operations VP Larsen’s office for debriefing. Doug Larsen greeted the FAA with “ We gave Joe the best Doppler airplane we had – how did it go?. The FAA remarked that we should get better Doppler equipment but stated that Joe was an extremely good navigator, doing so for 9 hours overwater. World went on to successfully demonstrate the Doppler system until it was replaced in 1971 by INS in our DC-8 fleet.

Other diversionary options were discussed including the change of course to intercept the airway at Shemya to PANC, refueling and then continuing to KSUU via Airways. All options were negated as the FAA Inspector stated that he wanted to observe what World would do under the most extreme emergency conditions.

Thanks Captain Joe for your "Memorable Moments.

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Captain Joe Goeller and Flight Attenent Johnann Pisarchik.  Taken in 1960 in front of a Connie at Hanger 28, KOAK.

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Picture of Captain Joe Goeller depicting his participation in a steak fry at Stirling Island, Solomon's on May 1944. We had been on C-rations, living in tents as shown in the photo, when a Liberty ship docked at the island. We had no hot water and I, after a couple of "raisin jack's", preceded to the harbor. The guard on duty challenged me and I asked if I could take a hot shower-not having had the luxury for some time. He directed me to the crew quarters that took me thru the kitchen area. I took my shower and preceded up the "vertical" ladder to the gangplank and asked the guard if I could help myself to the "little" piece of beef I had seen in the galley.  Feeling sorry for me and realizing we had had no hot showers or fresh food for months, approved my taking the "little piece" of beef. I preceded down the "ladder", placed the "beef" on my shoulder, climbed the "vertical" and the guard remarked, "I thought you said it was a small piece of beef". It was a side of beef and I could not have managed the task if it had not been for the "Raisin Jack's", a mixture of tropical fruit and the alcohol, from the coolant supply of the P-38. I can't remember my retort but anyway he said "get the hell out of here before the cook misses the beef". This was the greatest BBQ the South Pacific had ever seen.!!!

From your friendly Cap’t Joe Goeller: (10/1/01)

One of the very favorite questions asked of crew members is: “ who is flying the airplane “ i.e. when a crew member has to, & this a great quote from the FAA, needs to attend to his or hers physiological duties!!. One day, and I didn’t log it in either my personal logbook or the A/C’s log, I stepped out of the DC-10 cockpit to attend to ___. And a young man in 3A asked the proverbial question, “Who’s flying the airplane. And before I could give the young man any number of the usual explanations, depending on the individual involved, a little old lady in seat 2A said to the young man, quote “ You don’t see the Captain on the “Love Boat” driving all the time. [personal remark – I really loved the term “driving”.]

My B-747 Jumpseat Experience With Captain Joe Goeller - Submitted by Dick Kalman

I was riding the jump seat on a World Airways Boeing 747 passenger flight departing the Oakland International terminal going to the far east. The Captain was Joe Goeller. Prior to push back Captain Joe went to the forward lav and returned with some wet and dry paper towels. He proceeded to open the Captains side window, climbed up on the seat, hung out the window and washed his window. I was very impressed as were the passengers observing this out the terminal window. How many airline Captains  would do this?  I told Joe that this could only happen at World Airways. It is that attitude that made me proud to say I was part of the very professional World Airways family. Dick Kalman

Dick,
This is from the same guy you caught "washing" his windshield before one departure. Seems the same Captain had to leave the 'cockpit' one time and tend to his "physiological duties", as the FAAd escribes the action. Well, while waiting for the restroom to be free, as the cockpit crew shared the forward 'lavs' with the Pax, I was kinda standing in contemplation and the young chap in 1C inquired, " who's flying the plane". Well as you know this question is always addressed when the Captain leaves the cockpit, and depending on the individual who poses the question, there is a myriad of 'answers' which seem to satisfy. Well, before I could respond to the young man's question, a "little old lady" in 1B turned to the boy in 1C and said " You don't see the Captain
on the 'Love Boat' driving all the time. Rather sharp from a "little old lady', don't you agree. - Joe Goeller

Darwin Australia - Submitted by Flight Attendant Ellen Hill 12/9/99

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One of my favorite moments was in Darwin Australia during the Vietnam R & R flights. This was a refuel/catering and crew change stop only but one day the aircraft had a major mechanical delay. We fed the GIs the meal we had on the a/c as there was nowhere in town which could accommodate even close to the number of people we had on the stretch DC8 which if I remember right was 218 PAX. After they had been fed a school bus and another bus and many private cars showed up and all the GIs were taken by the local people on a tour of everything worth seeing in the area. They then somehow found enough beds in homes to house the folks for the night. The next morning cars and trucks and buses showed up at the airport bringing the guys (and gals ?) back and we took off for Sydney. All the folks raved about the wonderful treatment they had received by their quickly assembled local hosts.
I also remember either seeing or hearing about a time when many crew members were sitting around the pool in Darwin and an inbound crew walked through the gate in uniform and walked right into the pool still in uniform until the beige bubble hats just floated on the surface.On the airplane, the flight attendant had duty positions. Mostly, the important stuff had to do with what happens in an emergency. Once assigned a position (at the beginning of the flight), it was considered bad form to switch with another flight attendant. It wasn't done, not ever - for any reason...except for flights to Vietnam. When we were about two hours out of wherever we were landing in Vietnam, the senior flight attendant would start asking for a volunteer "to take the forward door". She'd also ask "for an extra pair of eyes" but that's another story. It seems so simple, looking back at it 29 years later. The flight attendant just had to stand at the forward door and say good-bye to the soldiers, airmen, marines and sailors. Some flight attendants couldn't do it- some just wouldn't. I'd always take the forward door. At the bottom of that ramp was a War, and some of those boys needed someone to nudge them down that ramp. I was good at it - I could say "good-bye" without actually uttering the words. I'd extend my hand, look them straight in the eyes and smile the best "it will be OK smile" that I could. I saw eyes full of fear, some with real terror. I saw eyes that I know said "get me out of this"...and maybe this sounds crazy, but I saw death in some of those eyes. The best I have ever been was at the top of that ramp. When I can't sleep, it's their eyes I see - the ones so full of death.

Captain Luis Salazar The best "World Airways" memory

One of my the best memories I have is of the day that they announced the end of the BROWN uniforms. It didn't take long to find a box of matches. It was not until later that I realized what a pay cut I had taken from not getting tipped in hotel lobbies....

My involvement in the final days and the fall of South Vietnam takes a circuitous routing.

Submitted by Pacific Operations Representative - Joe Hrezo

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It was during my first assignment in the United States Air Force (USAF), at Rome Air Force Base in upstate New York, that I volunteered for duty in Vietnam.

Having received a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the USAF upon college graduation, but unable to attend flight school training due to colorblindness, I felt that I could serve my country in another capacity in the limited military action that was developing in South Vietnam at that time - 1964.

As fate and the military personnel system works, I was instead sent to the USAF transportation school for three months and ultimately assigned to an Airlift Transportation Unit at Kimpo Air Base outside Seoul, Korea.

It was while I was stationed in Korea with the USAF that I met an individual, working for a company called Air America, who would be the catalyst for providing me with the opportunity to work in South East Asia and Vietnam.

My association with Air America in Laos and Vietnam from November 1967 thru
June 1967 would lead to employment with World Airways with whom I would be
employed in Asia from July 1969 to April 1977, including the period of the last days and the fall of South Vietnam on April 30, 1975.

During the Vietnam war period, World Airways was one of the largest civilian air carriers providing airlift of passengers and cargo to the Department of Defense thru its contracts with the United States Air Force.

It was through my various assignments with World Airways in Japan, The Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam that I would become part of two dramatic and unforgettable flights in Vietnam; the last flight out of Danang on March 29, 1975 and the first refugee flight out of Saigon on April 2, 1975 carrying Vietnamese orphans.

Although the last flight out of Danang would receive worldwide attention; a World Airways B-727 designed to carry 135 passengers taking off with the rear passengers stairs down and over 300 Vietnamese onboard, it would be the flight out of Saigon carrying the orphans and the circumstances and occurrences involved before and after the flight that would provide lasting memories.

Immediately after the last flight out of Danang, Mr. Ed Daly - the owner and President of World Airways - who was of the opinion that the City of Saigon would fall by April 15 (it actually fell on April 30), began organizing an airlift of
Vietnamese orphan children to the United States. It was his plan to provide
airlift of approximately 400 orphans on board a DC-8 cargo aircraft that would
be equipped with cargo pallets and cargo nets, bedding and blankets instead of seats.

On April 2nd, the day of the flight with over 300 orphans in the process of being
picked up and transported to the Saigon Airport, we were informed that several of the United States adoption agencies and orphanages sponsored by these agencies had been advised by US government personnel in Saigon that the cargo aircraft was unsafe for passengers. Because of this, these agencies canceled their plan to have their children ride on the flight. At the scheduled departure time only 57 orphans had been brought to the airport. As it was nearly dark and the airport was scheduled to close for the night, Mr. Daly directed the Captain to depart. As the flight was taxing to the runway, it was ordered back by the tower citing a lack of clearance, but the Captain defied the
towers orders and departed.

The flight from Saigon to Oakland, California, with stops in Japan and Alaska, with the 57 orphans, ranging from 3 months to 3 years with the flight attendants, myself and several personnel from the orphanages providing care for the orphans is something I will not forget. Picture as you will a group of children being transported out of their native country, being scared, not speaking English, and being on an aircraft not having any seating on board other than cargo pallets with bedding, and you have the makings of an interesting 20 hours of flying. With the exception of two sick infants that had been taken off for medical attention in Japan, 55 orphans arrived safely at Oakland, California on April 3, 1975.

It is the plight of the orphans that were pulled off the World Airways flight that will remain forever with me.

After the completion of the World Airways orphan flight, the US Government instituted plans to airlift several thousand homeless and orphaned children from Saigon to the United States. The first flight with a USAF C-5A cargo aircraft equipped to carry passengers was scheduled to take off out of Saigon on April 6,1975.

The C-5A aircraft, carrying over 300 persons on board crashed on take off out of Saigon, killing 100 of the 243 orphans that were on board. In a twist of fate, many of the orphans that perished in the C-5A crash were orphans that should have been on the World Airways flight on April 2nd, but had been pulled from the flight because the orphanages had been informed that the World Airways plane was unsafe.

After being on the orphan flight to the United States and caring for the orphans
in flight, I often wondered what became of the children , how they grew up and what they are doing now.

At the same time, I think how tragic it was that orphans who should have been spared perished due to political interference of US authorities in Saigon at the last minute.

When I first volunteered for military duty as a USAF 2nd Lieutenant in 1964, I thought the United States was involved in noble and just cause in assisting the Government of South Vietnam.

When Saigon and South Vietnam fell to the North Vietnamese on April 30th, 1975, I was at Clark Air Base in the Philippines waiting to see if World Airways would operate any additional evacuation flights out of Saigon.

In my opinion and from my experiences in South East Asia and Vietnam, I now feel that a program that started out providing military advisors turned into a political war that no one envisioned, knew how to handle or had the will to win.

During my work with Air America, I lost numerous friends that were either killed or shot down on flights in Laos and Vietnam, and having to walk thru the morgue at Danang Air Base to identify bodies was a haunting experience that I will never forget.

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Johnny Wiseman’s Introduction to World Airways

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The year was 1960, the day was June 26. I was in a new Super Connie 1049H on my way to Tokyo Japan, life was good. We landed at Honolulu for an overnight stay and while there learned that Slick Airways had lost the Log Air contract. This was bad news, maybe life was not so good after all. With very little time spent counting numbers I realized I was in need of a job, my seniority number would not hold.

In those days we lived and died with military contracts, and when you lost a big one it hurt. So who was the big winner this time? Some outfit called World Airways, who the hell is World Airways was the big question. We at Slick flying the Tokyo run had some knowledge of them. We had several pilots deadhead out to Tokyo with us to go to work for World Airways only to be deadheading back to the States with us a few days later after being fired. The word we got, World was a tough outfit to work for. At the time World had a couple of DC4s flying an inter-island service contract for the military out of Tokyo, and that was about the sum of their business. No matter, with the award of a large Log Air contract they were going to be hiring pilots. So who to contact at World Airways?

George Merrill had at one time flown for Slick and the rumor was he now worked for some fellow named Ed Daly, owner of World Airways. There was no phone service that I could use to call George from Honolulu. I didn’t know George but I gave it my best shot and sent him a Radio Gram. I stated my qualifications and the fact that I was currently a qualified DC4 Captain with recent Log Air experience. My main problem at the time I was outbound to Tokyo and would not be back in Oakland before June 29. World was scheduled to start flying Log Air July 1, 1960. Not much hope!

I did land back in the States at Travis AFB about 0230 the morning of the 29th. When I walked into the terminal building I was met by an old buddy, Dave Bee. He had been waiting there for me quite some time. Dave was a few numbers my senior at Slick and he too was out. Being the resourceful fellow he was, he had landed a Chief Pilot’s job with Zantop, an outfit out of Detroit. Zantop was a winner in the new military contract awards. Their award was Quick Trans, the Navy version of Log Air. Dave stated he had two Captain slots left, and I could have either one. Great news but for one catch, he needed an answer immediately. One base was Macon, GA, and the other was Norfolk, VA. I told Dave I needed to clear it with my wife, but he said we didn’t have time. He was leaving immediately for SFO to catch a flight back to Detroit, and he had to have his crew compliment in hand upon his arrival there. I ask what time he expected to be back in his office in Detroit? We made a deal that I would go jump in my Bonanza, which was parked outside the Travis gate at the Aero Club. I would fly home to Long Beach, confer with my wife, make a decision, and call him in Detroit when he first got back in the office.

I knew that World Airways was out of Oakland and if I could get with them I would remain on the West Coast. When I got home in Long Beach that morning it was no surprise that the Mrs. was very cool to the idea of moving east to Macon, GA, or to Norfolk, VA. It was now about ten AM the morning of the 29th and it was getting to be a very long day considering I had flown in from Tokyo to Travis, then south in my Bonanza to Compton where I kept it, then drove home. I had to call Dave Bee, as promised, but first I’d try World Airways.

Right here I should quit and use the old adage, ‘And the rest is History’. I was with World Airways for thirty-four years and all that happened during that period of time is very hard to believe, even for me and I was there.

That fateful morning June 29, 1960, when I called World I did talk to Captain George Merrill for the first time, but not for long. He didn’t have time to talk to me. He told me he had hired a Chief Pilot that very morning and he would turn me over to him. First he did ask if I was the Johnny Wiseman who had sent him a Radio Gram from Honolulu, this I confirmed so he turned me over to Joe Goeller. Joe said he had the Captain slots all filled, “would I be interested in a copilot spot?” (Not really, Captain in Norfolk, or Macon, looked better). Then Joe said if I could come up to Oakland and fill out an application he’d let me know right away if any more of the ‘new hire Captains’ failed their check rides. He stated that there had been a whole lot of them that didn’t make it. Also, the last two hired hadn’t been up for a ride yet, but were scheduled for that evening. “If either one of them failed I’d get a shot, how soon could I come up?”

I told him I could be up there in a couple of hours, which surprised him until I explained the Bonanza. However, I told him I was in dire need for some sleep, the last had been in Tokyo a couple of days ago. It was agreed that I’d get a couple hours of sleep, climb back in my Bonanza and get to Oakland that evening. When I landed the Bonanza at Oakland and taxied up to the old Trans Ocean hanger little did I know what to expect. What I found was sheer madness; total bedlam. Captain Merrill was holding court like a General under siege. He looked up momentarily, zeroed in on me and demanded to know how much DC4 command time I had, he then ask my name. When I had introduced myself he opened a little gate at the end of the counter and told me to go in back and talk to Captain Goeller.

Captain Goeller didn’t have time to talk to me either, but he did ask when I last flew a Link Trainer. With all that was going on around there it is a little wonder that these guys were nutz. Link Trainer? I came up here to fly a DC4, not a Link Trainer. Joe quickly explained that most of the new hires were getting washed out with the Link Trainer. This was unheard of at the time in the industry. “Could I fly one?” Joe asked. A lot of the guys at Slick didn’t think much of the Link so didn’t bother to keep up their requirement. When they got called on it they would just call up Fowler in Burbank where we were suppose to go, and get signed off. I always went and took my Link training, this night in Oakland it paid off.

The unforgettable fellow who ran the Link was Omar Stone. That Link was his baby, he kept it in perfect working order, unlike most Link Trainers of the time. It was his pride and joy, and he took Link Training very seriously. The guys that didn’t take his Link serious didn’t go to work for World Airways. I was impressed with how well his machine was maintained, and how well it flew. Although I was quite surprised at some of the stuff he threw at me during the check ride. However we got along quite well, and after the regular ‘check ride’ he asked if I’d mind trying a few extra things. In that I was trying to get a job, ‘of course I didn’t mind’. So he pitched me some off the wall curves, and apparently I did all right. He thanked me for the time, and then opened the lid, picked up the phone, called Joe Goeller and said, “We got another one!” I wasn’t quite sure if that was good or bad, but when Omar complemented me on the ride, told me the crew car was on it’s way I figured one more hurdle was crossed. By now it was getting late and was quite dark outside, so what next?

Back to the hanger and Captain Goeller we go. He now had a little time to talk to me. He said Omar was impressed, which I found a bit strange, and had me fill out some papers. He told me that a training flight was up at that time with two Captains and if either one of them were to fail I’d get a shot. “How did I feel about taking a check ride at 0300 in the morning?” My lack of sleep was catching up with me, and I noticed Goeller was not in much better shape. I told Joe of course I was up for the check ride, but I sure would like to lie down for a spell.

Then came another big surprise. Joe told me I was checked in at the Alameda Hotel, and the crew car was waiting for me outside the hanger. I ask no questions, went out got in the crew car and off to the hotel I went. I walked in and the guy on the desk addressed me by name, handed me a key, pointed the way to the room, and wished me good night. By this time I’m a walking zombie and was sure I must be dreaming. I walked into the room, fell face down on the bed and went out like I’d been whacked on the back of my head with a lead pipe.

The next thing I know someone has me by the shoulders shaking the be-jesus out of me and calling my name. I was still face down on the bed where I had dropped un-conscience upon arrival. When I finally did regain some semblance of conscience they tell me the crew car is outside waiting, and that I’m late. To say that this confused me is to put it mildly. I knew I no longer had a job, so how in heck could I miss Crew Call? I stumbled into the bathroom, threw water in my face, looked in the mirror and scared myself, then went out and got in the waiting crew car. Back to the Trans Ocean hanger we go. It is now about three in the morning of June 30. I walk into what was later to become dispatch, the same place I had been the day before, and sure enough there is Joe Goeller, he was still there. Now I know for sure this outfit is nutz. Also there was an old buddy from Slick, Rudy Holman. We look at each other and shake our heads, neither of us had ever seen anything like this operation before, but we really hadn’t seen anything yet.

Joe directed us to go out and get aboard a DC4 that was in front of the hanger with the engines idling. We climbed in and discovered there was only one other person on board. Captain Jim Byrne was sitting in the copilots seat. He told us to pull up the ladder by which we had boarded, close the door, and for one of us to get in the Captain’s seat. Rudy and I look at each other, he pulled out a coin, and I won the toss. Rudy shrugged his shoulders and climbed in the seat. It’s always better to see your buddy take the beating first so you may learn what not to do. By the time we got air-born it was still very dark at about 0330 in the morning. The airplane was loaded with fuel, all eight tanks were full which was very strange for a training flight. We had enough fuel on board to fly half way across the Pacific Ocean. Jim told Rudy to head out over the Farallon Islands, which is a normal departure route for Honolulu. As crazy as things had been, I begin to wonder if we were indeed headed for Honolulu. Captain Byrne wasn’t the talkative type and he was not giving out any information.

We were well out to sea before Jim started his drill, and what a drill it was. We did more hy-jinks in that DC4 than either Rudy or I had ever seen before. After what seemed like forever, Jim finally gave up trying to get Rudy to destroy the airplane so he put me in the seat. Away we go again with some new tricks, just when we begin to think this guy had run out of weird ideas. One thing you had to say for the guy, he was fearless. We were out there for several hours milling around before he turned off all the radios, declared we were lost, and ask if I could tell him how and when I could get back to Oakland. By now it was beginning to get light but we were so far out at sea I couldn’t see the Coast or the Farallons.

However, I knew a heading of 060 degrees would get me back to the Coast in the general vicinity of Oakland. Not good enough for Captain Byrne, he wanted an exact time, track, and distance to Oakland. He had me in the cross hairs. I had to confess that without any radio aids whatsoever I did not know how to work a ‘Lost Orientation Time and Distance’ problem. Captain Byrne was not a cheery fellow, and the fact that he had undoubtedly been strapped in that seat for days didn’t help. Also, he had the blood of all the guys he had recently washed out all over him. This added much to the uncertainty of the successful conclusion of our check rides. Things weren’t looking good.

I told Jim how, by use of ‘dead reckoning navigation,’ I would return to Oakland. To this he didn’t respond and just sat there silent for some time, so I headed home. We had not gone far before Captain Byrne announced that we had one ADF (automatic direction finder) back in service. With this he wanted a time, track, and distance to Oakland. It didn’t take me long to realize that all he had given me to work with was an ADF radio with a broken loop. In other words, it would not home on anything. With some trial and error I discovered the loop was frozen at an angle of about thirty degrees off the nose. Not good, but at least I had something. I worked out a ‘time and distance’ after a lot of mental gymnastics and twisting and turning. It was no surprise when Jim said “OK now prove it” with a tone in his voice that said “I gotcha now hotshot.” When I made my ETA within three minutes there was no glee in Captain Byrne’s demeanor, but he wasn’t done yet.

He declared the whole West Coast socked in and that I had only fifteen minutes of fuel left. I’m looking at fuel gages that tell me I still have enough gas to make it to Honolulu. However, we must play the game. Next he said he wanted me to make a Low Frequency Range Approach into Oakland. I advised him there was no such approved procedure for Oakland to date, which there wasn’t. He said, “you’re out of gas over OAK with a hundred foot ceiling, there’s nothing else available, what are you going to do?” It was at this point the tide begin to turn in my favor. Jim didn’t know he was talking to an old ‘Mexican Bandito’ use to sneaking in and out of places illegally in bad weather. I laid out the plan, over OAK on top, time outbound on the southeast leg to be west of Hayward to start a procedure turn and letdown over the Bay. Then back toward Hayward underneath clouds, pick up the shoreline turn left and follow it to OAK. Illegal, yes, would it work, but of course! Jim let me go as far as he dared without getting a violation. I found OAK and landed as instructed with a full stop. He then told me to get out of the seat. I thought, “that’s it Jack” the game’s over even though I had made it.

Next it was Rudy’s turn back in the hot seat. Jim gave him another ridiculous scenario that was totally illegal, “but what would you do if faced with this?” Rudy had been around a while, and didn’t take long to come up with a plan of attack. Jim thought about it for a moment then said “good thinking.” However, he didn’t ask Rudy to execute it, like he had done with me. I guess maybe he thought we had tempted fate enough with my ‘crop dusting’ run in from Hayward. After the required landings, we parked the airplane back in front of the hanger, opened the door, put the ladder down and got out. Jim stayed in the copilot’s seat where we had found him hours earlier. He kept the engines running, so maybe that was the reason for all that extra fuel on board, he was waiting for the next ‘pigeons’ to show up.

As Rudy and I were walking across the ramp shaking our heads in disbelief, Captain Goeller came out and met us half way to the hanger. He anxiously asked, “How did you do?” In unison we replied “we don’t know” which we didn’t. Joe then asked, “well, what did he say” again almost in unison we said, “he didn’t say anything” which he hadn’t. Joe’s face lit up and he said, “congratulations gentlemen, you’re hired.” Talk about a weird administration!

Next morning, July 1, 1960, the first two World Airways Log Air flights left the West Coast ‘on time’ which was almost unheard of at Slick. Rudy Holman and I took the northern route, Pete Poteet & some other dude took the southern route. We double crewed at the out set to get crews in position at the midpoint layover spots. Rudy and his copilot flew the first leg to Offet AFB, Omaha, NE. My copilot and I deadheaded that leg then took the flight on the rest of the way to Harrisburg, PA, the East Coast terminus. It was another very long day. Rudy had a suitcase, all I had was a shaving kit, little money and no extra clothes. When I went up to Oakland it was just to see about a job. I did not anticipate being gone a week or more. By going all the way to the East Coast I would get home a day earlier than Rudy, albeit in some very dirty clothes.

For the next thirty-four years my life was dedicated to World Airways; we made it go, and go it did. No one who wasn’t there during this period could possibly believe all the incredible things we did building this airline. My time with World Airways was a fantastic experience and certainly one I can never forget.

So in mid 1964 I began my World Airways career as a Ground Instructor in the Training Department under the Director of Training, Fred Weinholz. The department head at that time was Doug Larsen, Vice President-Flight Operations. I sat through some of Fred Weinholz's Douglas DC-6 and Boeing 707 classes to prepare for my future lectures on those aircraft. I began teaching Flight Crew ground school shortly thereafter on the DC-6 and B-707-373C. I also taught the Flight Attendant classes as well with Mr. Weinholz. Maintenance training was also provided. In those early training days the training materials were very sparse with few hands on training devices. We later added a Boeing 707 Cockpit Procedures Trainer (CPT) and System Trainers that we purchased from Pan American World Airways Training in San Francisco. They were a great complement to the Flight Crew Training Program. Some months after my entry into World Airways I attended a company wide Christmas party and that offered me my first opportunity to meet the owner Edward J. Daly. I mentioned to him that I worked for an old friend of his while at Goodyear Aerospace and he was very surprised and pleased to receive the greetings from Mr. Dawes. So my career at World Airways was well under way. I managed the Education & Training Department as my career progressed and I was responsible at the peak for all the Training at World. This included Flight Crew, Flight Attendant, Maintenance, Management, Passenger Service, and Reservations. There were twenty-one Education & Training staff at the peak of the training in the late 70's and earl 80's. There were three instructors on the training staff in those early days. Fred Weinholz, Phil Barry and myself. Later Charlie Wall, Ed Karasiwicz, Ken (Porkchop) Dovel, John Williams, Ford Larsen, Candy Cook , B.J. Seures, and Hal Sigmon were added to the Ground School training. Flight Attendent training was conducted by various Flight Attenant staff members such as Bobby Youngman, Jackie Smith, Caroline Hooton, Yolanda Vega, Diane Smith, Pam McCracken, Maria Armanino and Karla Dern. Maintenance Training staff were Len Hanson, Bart Murray, Randy Walters and Karen Saperstein. Sales Training consisted of Susan Evans, Chris Parrino, Diane Tesche, Paula Bishop, Fausto Hilario, David Johnson, and Tina Gossage. My tenure at World Airways continued until March 1987 when I resigned as Manager - Education & Training to start a new career with the Bay Area Rapid Transit District Training Department in Oakland.

My career at World Airways was challenging and exciting. It provided me with a wonderful opportunity to meet some very professional folks throughout the company and to travel to places many people never even heard of. Places such as Yokota, Japan where Ground School Training was done for our Boeing 727 Flight Crews and Maintenance personnel stationed there. Our temporary residence while there was the Airline Hotel or Diechi Hotel that were within close proximity to the Yokota Airforce Base site of our flight arrival and departures, and also the location of the World Airways office. I was having a snack and a Kirin beer with some of the Flight Crews in the Airlines Hotel restaurant during one of my stays at Yokota. A crew was checking into the front desk and one of the Flight attendants was overheard to say that Pam Kung was on the flight and would be checking some Flight attendants. Well the Flight Attendants quickly vacated the restaurant and headed for their rooms to study the Flight Attendant manual. On another occasion I had just arrived at the Airlines Hotel from Oakland, checked into my room, and headed over to the Yokota Officers Club for dinner. I returned to the hotel after dinner in a cab because of a heavy rain. Shortly after my return to my room I had a knock on the door. It was the hotel manager and he held out a wallet and said it belonged to me. I opened it as I had brought a large amount of cash with me, and had thoughts of losing it all. All my money was intact, much to my pleasant surprise. I asked the manager where he found it suspecting I may have dropped it on the way to my room He said that my taxi driver found it and had returned it. I was delighted and asked if he would give the driver some of the money for my appreciation. He quickly advised me that that would not be required. That was one of many examples that developed my appreciation, confidence and respect for the Japanese people.

Another experience was in Bangkok, Thailand. I had flown there with a B-727 crew to do some Maintenance Rep training. Some of the crew and I went to a local restaurant after we had settled into the Asia Hotel. Of course the first order of business was to go to the bar for a brew or two. The crew kept buying me beers and shortly began asking if I needed to go to the restroom. Finally after some continuous encouragement from the crew I did decide I needed to make that trip. Well as I was standing in the restroom removing a few beers I found myself facing a glass window. To my surprise I had a view into a room full of lovely Tai ladies, each of which had a number hanging around their neck. At that point I realized why the crew was anxious for me to hit the "john". Well they had a good laugh over that one but never again on me. A trip to Bangkok was not complete without a trip over to the famous James Jewelers. I purchase a great black sapphire ring there on one of my visits. Also a group of the flight attendants and I took a tour to the Bridge Over The River Kwai and Lying Buddha one afternoon. It was a fun trip with great scenery, and a fruit stand with sliced pineapple that one would kill for. The best I had ever tasted.

One of my training trips took me to Saigon, Vietnam. I was put up at the old French Majestic Hotel. Before venturing out I decided to take a short nap. I had the feeling that I was not alone in the room as I tried to doze off. Something seemed to be moving in my room. Finally, I realized that the ceiling and walls were alive with geckos, or small lizards. My welcome to Saigon had begun. I was amazed at all the motor cycles passing the hotel and the great value one could find using the American dollar. I went to the local market place and had two ceramic white elephants painted to my colors for $20.00 for the pair. My only concern was how to get them back to Oakland in one piece. Well the efficient Saigon office staff provided that service and the elephants made their trip to Oakland unscratched. During one of my Vietnam trips I flew with a B-727 crew into Da Nang. We were carrying a load of Stars & Stripes newspapers on the flight. I was sitting in the cockpit jump seat and told the captain that we were experiencing a true example of capitalism. I explained that as a teenager I had a paper route in my hometown and delivered them on my bicycle for about $8.00 per week. And now World Airways is delivering newspapers in a 7 million-dollar Boeing 727 with a crew paid several thousand dollars a month. That comparison brought a good laugh. I was monitoring the approach later during that flight. As we neared Da Nang I could hear the many other airlines ahead of us calling for their landing. The WOA First Officer called in for our landing and was given immediate approval much to my amazement. I asked, "how did you do that?". Well, I was advised the secret was that our flight crews based in Yokota often brought cakes, pies, cookies, etc. on the flight with them to distribute to the military personnel in the tower, on the arrival gate and to the Military Police on the field. Another example of the uniqueness of our World Airways crews. Another sample of this respect of crews became more apparent when I checked into the Pan Am facility at Cameron Bay, Vietnam, to spend the night. Some of the PAA maintenance personnel asked me if I was with Pan Am and I advised that I was with World Airways. With that they began throwing out the accolades about our World crews. They were impressed that the World crews would spend time with them to offer any help with the aircraft service or troubleshooting. They even mentioned that one WOA Captain climbed up into the belly compartment to point out where a possible problem with some equipment might be located. My treatment while at the Pan Am Cameron Bay facility was very cordial. They said they could not offer the same complements to their crews and that ours were special with which I agreed.

Other trips took me to Clark Airfield, Philippines, Okinawa, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Darwin, Australia. I very much enjoyed my Kuala Lumpur experience. World had a contract with Malaysian Airlines (MAS) to fly Muslims from Kuala Lumpur to Mecca for the Haji. I was sent there to set up the Douglas DC-10 training for the MAS personnel. While there I made friends with Robert Quay one of the lead instructors. Robert and I become good friends and he, his wife Mai and two daughters visited and stayed at our home in Hayward, California on two occasions. It was a special experience to visit their home and church while on my two different visits to Kuala Lumpur.

Luton, England was another stop during my WOA ventures. Ground Instructor Phil Barry and I went to Luton to train Britannia Airways crews on the Boeing 707-373C that we sold them in 1971. The training was held in an old quonset hut at the Luton Airfield. I had set up my Kodak in- line tray slide projector on top of a wood box, as things were somewhat primitive. I greeted the Britannia flight crews the first day of training, thanking them for purchasing the Boeing 707-373C, and said we were very pleased to be there to train them on the aircraft. I advised that I would begin the training with a General Overview of the aircraft. I turned on the projector and hit the advance to bring up the first slide. Much to my dismay the projector was set in reverse which tossed the slide tray off the back of the projector and onto the floor where the tray popped open and scattered the slides. Ones worst nightmare, so now what? I stood up tall, smiled at my audience and said, "well I guess it is tea time chaps". With that we all had a hardy laugh, reset the slides in the tray, had our tea and started the B-707 ground school. Another World Airways experience.

In 1972 there was a rebellion in the country of Mali, Africa and the Russians and their airline were asked to leave. Shortly after this World Airways was asked by the U.S. State Department to lease Mali Airlines a Boeing 727 aircraft and to train all required personnel. I was requested by management to go to Bamako, Mali with Rob Kline from Sales to negotiate the training program. We met at one of the Mali Airlines offices on a Friday afternoon with the woman Minister of Transportation. We completed about 90% of the meeting up to about 4 PM and to our surprise she said we would meet again the following morning to complete the session. I was very discouraged with this, as I had been set up with a Mali flight crew to fly over to Timbuktu, Mali, something very few people on this planet have the opportunity to accomplish. Well duty called and I can only wonder what Timbuktu would have been like. The accommodations in Bamako left much to be desired. I stayed at the Lay Motel that had a dirt floor and very large bats hanging on the trees outside. One night when I got up to use the toilet I stepped on something in the darkness with my bare feet that crunched under my foot. In the morning light I saw it was a very large and ugly beetle. Fortunately the local natives were very friendly and appreciative of the fine job World Airways was providing their country. Even the Mainland China diplomats assigned in Bamako enjoyed flying with us to Paris, France, etc. The initial Mali cockpit crews and flight attendants came to Oakland, California to be trained in early 1972. Prior to their arrival in Oakland they spent a month in Brattleboro, Vermont learning the English language. World Airways cockpit and flight attendant personnel flew the Air Mali flights until the appropriate number of the Mali crews were trained. Another very successful World Airways venture.

There were other interesting places of experience such as Frankfurt, Germany, and many more. Experiences I shall always cherish and give thanks to World Airways for the unforgettable memories they provided me. But it is the many friends at WOA that are the most important to me. It is the dedicated and professional employees at World that inspired me to create the World Airways Alumnus web site. My purpose for the many hours spent developing the site is to keep our unique World Airways "family" together and in touch with one another. My experiences listed above are only a small fraction of the wonderful and sometimes not so wonderful experiences I can put down in writing. I hope to add more of my experiences later as thought and time permit. Meanwhile I will greatly appreciate your sharing a piece of your history and experiences with World Airways. They are too important not to be shared.

The following article appeared in the July 2006 edition of the Around World Newsletter

World Airways Alumni Group Keeps History and Friendships Alive

By Dick Kalman

Reflecting back to early 1964, I was working for Goodyear Aerospace Corporation in Akron Ohio and was preparing to move my family to the San Francisco Bay Area. My manager of Flight Operations was Hamilton Dawes. He said if I was looking for an aviation job in the Bay Area, he had a friend named Edward J. Daly, who owned an airline called World Airways. At first, I thought he meant Trans World Airlines or perhaps even Pan American Airlines. How many times we were confronted with that assumption over the years. He soon made the correction for me. He advised me that he and Ed Daly were partners in World Airways in the beginning, when the company was operating surplus WWII aircraft. I followed up on his recommendation and was interviewed for a position. My Naval Air Reserves training and electronics experience were just what they were looking for. I was hired in 1964 as an Education & Training Department instructor. Those 23 years that I served World Airways in that capacity were undoubtedly some of my most memorable years. One of the job requirements I loved was that each of us in the Training Department was required to be a master at everything. That is to say, we were charged with: training the cockpit crew, cabin crew, customer service, maintenance, aircraft cleaners and management personnel. It was one of those challenging jobs that I looked forward to going to.There were the other job benefits of worldwide travel to places I only heard of in my geography classes: places like London, England; Frankfurt, Germany; Bangkok, Thailand; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Bamaka, Mali, Africa; and Yakota, Japan, to name some. We often do not fully comprehend how truly special an experience is until we look back on it years later. Several years into my career I was promoted to manager - Education & Training, and had the pleasure of working directly with Captains Ken Healy, Bill Keating and Warren Vest. With that new position came a great deal of responsibility. For example, in September 1973 I was in my hometown, Akron, Ohio, to visit family and to attend a Naval Air Reserve reunion. While at the reunion, I was advised that World Airways aircraft N802WA, a DC-8-63 freighter, had crashed on the back course approach to Cold Bay, Alaska. That terrible news meant that I had to return to Oakland immediately because I knew the NTSB, FAA and attorneys would request all flight crew and maintenance training records. Fortunately, in 1972 I had requested one of our pilot crew to set up a Jeppesen Manual course for all pilots. That surely saved the day, as the accident was directly related to the Jeppesen charts. My message to the current World Airways training folks is that you must continuously look for that "window of vulnerability" and cover it. The key word is "synergy". When everyone on the team is working toward a positive outcome, you are very likely to find it together. That is exactly what the Cockpit Resource Management program brought to aviation safety and training. I was honored to be part of the original CRM Development Symposium in San Francisco. Those were special days in my career at World and I shall forever enjoy the many special relationships and fond memories enroute. This is where many lifelong relationships were developed. That is the reason I developed the World Airways Alumnus Web site when I retired from World. The obvious goal is to keep our special World Airways family together and in touch. Retired flight attendant Julie Antonelli has for many years contributed to that goal by organizing the Oakland reunion in even years. This year the reunion is scheduled for September 1-3. Details are available on the WOA Alumnus web site. On odd years a mini-reunion is held in Las Vegas with flight crew retirees Lyman Hitch, Red Wynn and Charlie Lewis lending their talents. The current World Airways team in Peachtree City, Georgia has a continuing challenge -- to keep that ball that has been rolling since 1948 moving along in a positive direction. The ball is now in your court, and those of us who were part of the team over many formative years handed it off to you. I know you are certainly up to the task, as one only needs to realize that not too many years ago World Airways stock was $0.80. Recently it has been over $9.00. That is a strong indicator of success. World Airways is respected worldwide because it knows how to get the job done, and often under very difficult circumstances. That is a compliment to everyone on the World Airways team, including Randy Martinez, the staff, the board and each and every employee. I wish you each a smooth flight well into this new century. Cherish collecting those special friendships enroute, because they will be with you a lifetime. God bless.

World Airways has a strong alumni group centered in California. The unofficial organization has more than 400 members who meet annually to maintain their friendships and share decades of World Airways memories. Dick Kalman plays a key role in keeping the group together through a vibrant Website and email system. Dick worked for 23 years (1964-1987) in the World Airways Education and Training department, and has many rich memories of his career with the company.

One Of A Kind - Ground Instructor Ken (Porkchop) Dovel)

(click on picture to enlarge)

The picture is of World Airways Ground Instructor Ken (Porkchop) Dovel (deceased) on his way to Yokota, Japan for the first time to train Boeing 727 Flight Crews and Maintenance personnel. Ken was one of the several highly respected Ground Instructors and was affectionately called "Porkchop", a carry over from his US Navy days as a Training Chief at Memphis. No one taught Ground School with more enthusiasm and knowledge than Ken. Ken had a special way during his class lectures to hold every ones attention. Ken developed a fungus in his one leg on a return from Mali, Africa where he was training Air Mali maintenance personnel. Unfortunately Ken also suffered with Sugar Diabetes. This resulted in a serious infection and ultimately gangrene set in. This later lead to a partial amputation of the leg. This did not slow down Ken's enthusiasm for teaching. He shortly returned to the Education & Training classroom with crutches to resume teaching the Flight Crew ground school classes. Within several moths Ken suffered another set back. His kidneys failed forcing him to go on dialysis several times each week. He scheduled his dialysis for late afternoon. You guessed it-he wanted to get back to the classroom to teach his Flight crew buddies. He was one of a kind.  Dick Kalman

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Nancy (Wood) Shamel - May 1967 to June 1969

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Some of my most memorable flights were Vietnam flights -R & R's to Australia and flights back to the US. As most of you flight attendants from the war years will remember the flights to Vietnam were awful, the guys were young and scared, they didn't want to talk to anyone. Most other flights were great.

We usually rotated crews to where you didn't always fly with the same gals, but for some reason Carol Papetti and I flew a lot flights of soldiers together. We had a little game we played. We would go through the plane and check out which handsome guy
we wanted to visit with, we usually ended up picking the same guy. So competition began, who was going to be the one to get his attention and keep it? There was only one such incident that I can still remember the guy. Carol was working the front of the plane and I was in the back, but the nicest looking Green Beret was sitting in the very front seat across from the jump seat. Carol had a head start on me but in the end I won. In fact when we picked up the plane the next morning in Darwin from Sidney. The crew that
had relieved us the day before; asked "which of you gals is Nancy, that handsome Green Beret fell in love with you."

Now another flight with Carol which occurred on Sep. 7,1968 on a flight from Bien Hoa, Vietnam. When I walked from the cockpit to the back galley all 168 soldiers on board looked at me as I passed them and smiled or chuckled. When I got to the galley I asked my dear friend Carol "do I have a button on my blouse undone or is something else wrong with my uniform or me?" With a very straight face she said "no." I made another trip to the front and back again and got the same chuckles and smiles. I decided to check the back of my uniform myself this time. Stuck to my rear was a piece of paper, on this piece of paper was written - WATCH ME WIGGLE - the navigator (Ray Vandeven) had written this and put it on my rear when I was in the cockpit. The plane was full of laughter when I finally discovered this, so I said "Ok guys you want to watch me wiggle" I went up the aisle swinging my hips from one side of the seats to the other. The soldiers loved it.

Another memorable flight was when we gave a soldier all the milk he wanted (if you gals remember that was one thing all the soldiers wanted on their return flights from Vietnam). Some of us gals decided to have fun with this one guy. We gave him his milk out of a baby bottle from the Baby Kit, he had a great sense of humor and everyone got such a kick out of this that whenever he wanted more milk he had to have it out of the baby bottle.

These times were good, it was great to know these soldiers had lived through hell and could laugh and enjoy their flights home.

Because of Stella Shreve hiring me as a flight attendant for World Airways, I have been involved with Vietnam Veterans since 1984, when I was asked to join "Freedom Birds" a military Vietnam Veterans Organization here in Idaho Falls, Idaho. In 1990 we dedicated our state Vietnam Veterans Memorial and a month later I was elected as their President.

In 1988 our group decided we should write a book honoring the 45,000 state Vietnam Veterans and the 251 who never came home. In 1990 I took over the job of sorting and pulling out pertinent information from the casualties memorabilia that their families had sent to us. I spent the next twelve years researching and trying to find information on the families to obtain
their loved ones memorabilia (I did manage to get something about each). During those years of searching, I met some wonderful people and families. Now I was on the other end of the spectrum than when I flew the guys into and out of Vietnam. I was dealing with those that hadn't come home.

I also have had the honor to meet two of our state Medal of Honor Recipients (one was the helicopter pilot in the movie "We Were Soldiers "with Mel Gibson, also one of the casualties in this movie was from Idaho.) In May of 2002 our 308-page book "Reasons to Remember" was unveiled by our Governor. Honoring Idaho as the first state in the nation to compile a statewide tribute to Vietnam Veterans.

If any of you alumnus members have been involved with Vietnam Veterans since your days of flying I would love to hear about them. I did meet another ex - World Airways flight attendant in Washington D.C. at the dedication of the Women's Memorial in 1994, and have received email from another World ex through emails to a Veteran website.

Funny but with age I can't seem to remember what I ate yesterday but I have great memories of my days with World Airways and those memories I still remember.